Southeast Calendar

“The Past is Never Dead” Film Screening and Discussion

October 15, 2018 @ 6:00 pm

Free

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The Department of Mass Media at Southeast Missouri State University is hosting “The Past is Never Dead” documentary film screening and discussion at 6 p.m. on Oct. 15 in the Forrest H. Rose Theatre in Grauel Building.

The evening will include a screening of “The Past is Never Dead,” an emotional and meditative story of David Robinson’s wrongful conviction and his 17-year, nine-month and one-week struggle to prove his innocence. This will be the first time Robinson will speak publicly about his experience.

The public is invited to attend, and admission is free.

Robinson was arrested for murder in the fall of 2000, and with testimony from two suspect criminal informants, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. There was no evidence, DNA or confession, and he had multiple alibis. The true killer confessed on audiotape in 2004 and committed suicide in 2009, and as the years passed, the informants recanted under oath, claiming police coercion. The film presents the judicial system through the lens of Sikeston, Missouri.

Following the film, a discussion will focus on Robinson’s case. Panelists will include Robinson and his attorneys, James Wyrsch, partner at Khazaeli Wyrsch; and Charles A. Weiss, partner, and Stephen Snodgrass, and Jonathan Potts, all of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Panelists will also include Bob Miller, editor of the Southeast Missourian and its exclusive investigative report “Life Without” about Robinson, and Steve Turner, producer and director of “The Past is Never Dead.” Dr. Tamara Buck, associate professor and multimedia journalism option coordinator in Southeast’s Department of Mass Media, will moderate the evening’s discussion.